DVD, which at one time stood for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc, is the next generation of optical disc storage technology. It's essentially a bigger, faster CD that can hold cinema-like video, audio, and computer data. DVD aims to encompass home entertainment, computers, and business information with a single digital format, eventually replacing audio CD, videotape, laserdisc, CD-ROM, and video game cartridges. DVD has widespread support from all major electronics companies, all major computer hardware companies, and all major movie and music studios. With this unprecedented support, DVD has become the most successful consumer electronics product of all time in less than three years of its introduction.

It's important to understand the difference between the physical formats (DVD-ROM or DVD-R) and the application formats (DVD-Video or DVD-Audio). DVD-ROM is the base format that holds data. DVD-Video (often simply called DVD) defines how video programs are stored on disc and played in a DVD-Video player or a DVD computer. The difference is similar to that between CD-ROM and Audio CD. DVD-ROM includes recordable variations DVD-R, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW. The application formats include DVD-Video, DVD-Video Recording, DVD-Audio, DVD-Audio Recording, DVD Stream Recording, and SACD. There are also special application formats for game consoles such as Sony PlayStation 2.

A DVD-R drive is comparable to that of a CD-R drive. It uses an organic dye polymer technology and can only be recorded on once like CD-R. This format can be read by virtually all DVD-ROM drives. Initially offering 4-GB disks, now the average single-sided single-layer disk holds 4.7 GB.

The drawback is that DVD-R drives currently cost more than $4000, which is a huge price premium over the competing DVD-RAM technology. A DVD-RW drive is basically a DVD-R drive with an erase function. To confuse matters, Philips, Sony, and Hewlett-Packard are taking a third route. DVD+RW, or just +RW, is a phase-change rewritable format that is not supported by the DVD Forum. +RW Drives should support 3 GB per side and read DVD-ROM, DVD-R, and DVD-RW disks. As far as I know, they are not yet on the market.

DVD-RAM, like CD-RW, allows you to rewrite information stored on the disk. The original DVD-RAM specification allowed for a basic storage capacity of 2.6 GB per side, using a caddy to protect the disk from accidental damage. However, several of the latest DVD-RAM drives have been designed to work using disks with or without caddies. The disk size has also increased in size to 4.7 GB.